Leatherhead Res. 2 Northwood Res. 1 

Saturday 29th September 2012

NORTHWOOD RESERVES		Suburban Lge Premier Div B
		At Northwood Park
Team line-up		Northwood scorer: Abdellah
1	Garry Malone
2	Rob Brooks
3	Harry Wright
4	Liam Fowler
5	Adam Pepera
6	Ed Hatcher
7	Adil Salih
8	James Fraser
9	Garry Senior
10	Jack Clark
11	Hicham Abdellah
Substitutes
12	Ryan Lee
14	Luke Fox
15	Derek Lewis
16	-
17	-

The Reserves are still looking for their first win of the season following a narrow and somewhat unlucky 2-1 defeat at Leatherhead last Saturday. It was the second game under the new management of Derek Lewis and the side was strengthened by the returning Liam Fowler in defence, while James Fraser and Garry Senior also needed run-outs having missed time while away.

The Woods did enjoy plenty of possession during the first-half and the better of the chances with Senior lobbing a shot just wide, while also missing a good opportunity when he latched onto a good cross from Hicham Abdellah. At the other end, Garry Malone did have to be alert to make one particularly good save to his left, pushing the ball wide of the post.

Buoyed by the goalless first-half, Northwood continued to press after the break and a good run by debutant Jack Clarke saw him burst into the box and be tripped as he was about to pull the trigger. Abdellah stepped forward to convert the spot-kick, low to the 'keepers right and it was 1-0 to the Woods.

Unfortunately it spurred Leatherhead into action and they levelled soon after when a deflected shot gave Malone little chance and all the good work was undone when the defence was caught napping by a long ball and the ball was lifted over Malone to put the home side 2-1 up.

The side responded well to this, though, and looked dangerous with every attack, though Ed Hatcher was the closest to an equaliser when he flashed a long-range strike just the wrong side of the post. The Tanners could have put the game out of reach when they were awarded a penalty for a harsh handball decision in the box but Malone pulled off a fine save to maintain the Northwood challenge.

Substitute Ryan Lee broke through but saw his shot cannon back off the post and the rebound looked likely to see Senior convert but he was denied by a defender’s last-ditch tackle. In the end it was a narrow defeat but the Woods can take heart from the narrow defeat as they look to rebuild after the chaotic start to their Suburban League season.